On the Brink

“It’s idealism versus reality. My undergrad goal was travel the world — Prague, Berlin, Spain — doing edgy, movement-based theater. I went to New York and did a lot of that kind of work. And stumbled a lot too. But needs change. You have to be real. Consider your future, your family, health. But,” she adds in a heartbeat, “I’m still making the leap.”

Diaz, originally from Miami, is leaning toward Los Angeles. If she has more responses from New York, however, “then head back East.”

“Most people find it easier to know what’s going to happen every day,” says Herron, a Michigander uncertain where he’ll be come June. “And that’s cool. We all need security. But an actor can’t know what’ll happen even in a rehearsal, say, when a glass breaks and you’ve got to work with that.

“Most of our training is trial and error — and failure — and learning from mistakes, while this culture is infected with avoiding failure as much as possible. But there’s more to be learned when you give something a shot and it doesn’t work. Many actors from MFA programs may not make the next step successfully. I may not, and that’s all right. I’d rather take the leap and not make it than stand on the cliff and wonder.”